hoodlum
Americannoun
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a thug or gangster.
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a young street ruffian, especially one belonging to a gang.
noun
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a petty gangster or ruffian
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a lawless youth
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hoodlum
1870–75, probably < dialectal German; compare Swabian derivatives of Hudel rag, e.g. hudelum disorderly, hudellam weak, slack Hudellump ( e ) rags, slovenly, careless person, and related words in other dialects
Explanation
Hoodlums are young people who are involved in crime or generally up to no good. A car full of hoodlums might drive down the street and smash mailboxes with a baseball bat. Hoodlums are into mean stuff like that. If you've ever seen a group of young people who look like trouble, you may have seen a group of hoodlums. Hoodlums are loud, aggressive, and violent. Hoodlums are part of gangs and commit crimes. If a young person robs a store or mugs someone, he’s a hoodlum. The word hoodlum has nothing to do with the hood on a sweatshirt. A hoodlum can also be called a gangster, thug, or toughie. Steer clear!
Vocabulary lists containing hoodlum
Number the Stars
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Novel Study: The Outsiders, Chapters 1–5
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All We Have Left
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He agreed to make two pictures a year if given time off to act on Broadway, and he bought out his contract to produce “The Hoodlum Priest” independently.
From New York Times • Feb. 2, 2024
Duke's directing credits include "Deep Cover," "A Rage in Harlem," and "Hoodlum."
From Salon • Jul. 20, 2020
Pickford, pictured here on the set of Hoodlum in 1925, made more than 200 films "It's like finding an early song by George Gershwin, or an unpublished short story by Mark Twain."
From BBC • Sep. 25, 2013
Because of his two previous felony convictions, Hoodlum Konigsberg faced a maximum sentence of 174 years.
From Time Magazine Archive
Archibald Forbes described the larrikin as "a cross between the Street Arab and the Hoodlum, with a dash of the Rough thrown in to improve the mixture."
From Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Morris, Edward Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
